Side Story: Afterwards

Side Story: Afterwards

A few years passed in an instant—

“Lettie, Lettie!”

While I’d only stepped away for a moment, my daughter Lettie—or rather, Violet had run off somewhere. Since Mr. Fisalis was going to be home soon, I was searching for her, but...

“If you’re looking for Little Mistress Lettie, she is in the garden reading picture books with Daisy and Quince,” said Rohtas, informing me of her location.

Daisy was Bellis and Mimosa’s daughter, and Quince was Rohtas’s adopted son. The boy was a distant relative who had nowhere else to go, so Rohtas had taken him in to train him as a butler.

Lettie absolutely adored them and stuck to the pair like glue. That being said, since Quince was usually away at school, she only saw him on holidays. When he wasn’t there, she played with Daisy every day.

“Thank you! Where in the gardens?”

“In your garden, Madam.”

“Got it! I’ll go see.”

Once Rohtas told me, I quickly headed to my personal garden.

“—And the beautiful princess lived happily ever after with the gentle and wonderful prince. The end.”

By the time I got there, Quince had just finished reading the picture book to the girls. The little girls sat on each side of him as he held the book open wide so they could see... It was too cute!

“Is Big Brother a prince?”

“Miss Lettie, Big Brother isn’t a prince.”

Lettie, who was two, and Daisy, who was three, were like sisters, while the eleven-year-old Quince was like a much older brother to them. Quince gave Lettie an awkward smile after her innocent question.

I was just dying from the cute scene.

“Ah, Madam~ Are you finished with everything you needed to do?” Mimosa called out to me when she noticed I was there. She had become Lettie’s personal maid (more like a nanny, actually).

“Yep, I’m done. I came to get Lettie since Daddy should be home soon.”

“It’s that late already? Miss Lettie, Quince, Daisy, let’s all go back inside.”

“Okaaay.”

“Lettie, do you want to hold hands with Mommy?”

“No, I wanna hold Big Brother’s hand.”

I thought I’d hold Lettie’s hand while we headed back into the manor, but she turned me down. I see... She wants to hold Big Brother’s hand instead...

“...”

“I’m sorry, Madam,” Quince apologized guiltily, having noticed me bitterly watching the two children hold hands.

Mr. Fisalis arrived home just as we made it to the main building.

“I’m home. Vi, Lettie,” Mr. Fisalis said, reaching out towards our daughter. She let go of Quince’s hand and ran full speed towards her father. Thank goodness. It’d be awful dealing with a depressed Mr. Fisalis if she said she wanted to stay with Quince again. Dear Lettie, thank you for reading the room!

I stood for a moment appreciating just how adorable it was to see my husband giving Lettie a big hug and nuzzling their cheeks together.

“How are you feeling, Vi? What did the doctor say?” he asked.

Yes, my business today was seeing the doctor. My tummy was just a liiiiiittle bit fat right now, since I was expecting our second child.

“Everything’s fine. He told me I needed to eat more, since my morning sickness has passed.”

“You’ve always been slender, Vi. Let’s get Cartham to make you something nutritious.”

“Hmm~, please make sure it isn’t too rich, though.”

I was never that great with super nutritious food, since a lot of it was pretty filling... Although I’d mostly stopped getting gourmet food poisoning, thanks to eating such high-quality stuff every single meal of every single day.

And that wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Despite the fact that I’d originally come to the ducal manor only wanting to improve my servant skills (for when I was inevitably divorced and sent home), I had all the skills of a proper lady drilled into me with strict lessons. Ah, but my servant skills are still perfect☆

Nowadays, I was universally recognized as Duchess Fisalis. My nickname had gone from “The Illusory Madam” to “The Happy Wife.”

...I’ve come pretty far.

But forget about me—Mr. Fisalis has changed the most!

“Were you a good girl, Lettie?”

“Yep!”

“That’s great.”

Mr. Fisalis was having a happy chat with Lettie but...

We’d started with a contract marriage for show that could’ve been called off at any moment, but somehow we’d ended up with such a happy family! And he’s a great dad too!

Not a single person could have imagined this all happening. Certainly neither of us did. How?

Can someone please explain what’s going on?!